Torah Thoughts and Reflections on the Jewish World

RCA Statement on Defacement of Church

Rabbinical Council of America on the Defacement of Jerusalem Church

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest organization of Orthodox rabbis in the world, condemns the recent defacement of The Church of the Dormition on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, as well as other recent acts against the sites and clergy of other religions. The hateful language that was scrawled on its walls are against the respect and decency called for by the Torah whose “ways are ways of pleasantness and whose paths are those of peace.”

From the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, then Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog, of blessed memory, declared it an obligation, rooted in both religious tenets and international obligations, to protect the integrity of the minority religious communities, including the persons and buildings of Christianity and Islam in the Jewish State.

Jews, who have suffered from religious persecution and oppression by members of other faiths in in the name of their religions, call on all people of faith to conduct themselves in respectful ways with other faith communities. Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, president of the RCA, said, “We expect the legal authorities in Israel to do all they can to protect these religious sites and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. We extend our words of encouragement and support to Fr. Pierbattista Pizzabolla.”